The 11th Annual Historic House Tour (hard to believe that it’s been 11 years!) is coming up in a few weeks and final preparations are in full swing!

Tickets for the 2015 house tour on Saturday, September 19, noon – 5 PM and Jazz & Just Desserts, the house tour preview party, on Sunday, September. 13, 6-9 PM at Duportail House are available online at www.tredyffrinhistory.org . The house tour is the largest annual fundraiser for Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust and all proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships support historic preservation and the completion of the Living History Center at Duportail.

The 11th Annual Historic House Tour features an interesting mix of eight private historic homes in Tredyffrin, Easttown and Willistown Townships plus the Diamond Rock Schoolhouse, an octagonal one-room school house in the Great Valley. Discover the beauty of historic preservation on the tour, everything from a mid-1800’s French Normandy hunting lodge on Valley Forge Mountain to Deepdale, the original 19th century stone farmhouse and the 1915 English Cotswold revival estate, ‘Deilwydd’. Enjoy stops at two different 150-year old carriage houses and marvel at how the owners skillfully adapted the buildings to 21st century family homes.

Also included on the tour is a sprawling 1900’s brick farmhouse in Malvern built by sisters, Ellen and Rebecca Winsor. Pro-suffrage activists from Haverford, the Winsor sisters were among 17 Pennsylvania women imprisoned for their “Silent Sentinel” picketing of the White House under President Woodrow Wilson.

We are still accepting sponsorships for the house tour, which helps to make the annual event possible. Ticket and sponsorship information is on the Trust website or you can email me at info@tredyffrinhistory.org.

It’s great to see many individuals and companies supporting historic preservation through the house tour, along with a number of elected officials and candidates. Its history and the preservation of our historic buildings helps to make this community special!

As the saying goes, “If walls could talk what stories they could tell.” Each featured property on the house tour has generations of original stories to tell! Hope to see you on the tour!

2 Comments

The beautiful day helped, but I would call yesterday’s 11th Annual Historic House Tour a smash hit all on it’s own. I wasn’t able to visit all the beautiful homes, but the ones I viewed were truly exquisite. I could have gotten lost in each one for hours had my friends not dragged me out.

I have never been one to consider buying or living in a 100+ year old home. I have never understood people who do. Well, that has changed. Many owners have kept the look and feel of the time period, while incorporating the amenities and conveniences of modern day living. They were jaw dropping amazing. No one speaks while walking through these homes.

From the 300+ year old farm house inches away from the road on Grubbs Mill (tue sign of it’s age) which had a detached Spring house or Kitchen 300 years ago — No one knows for sure what they used it for— now attached to the main house by a great room constructed with the time period in mind.

To the Carriage House on Lindsay Dr. which was used to store Carriages for what is now The Tarleton School on Waterloo Ave. Words cannot describe how the owner of this “home” transformed her Carriage House into the comfortable, livable, masterpiece that it is today while keeping and respecting the look and feel of the time period.

All truly amazing homes – what a treat! It was like going on vacation…….especially for the mind. if you couldn’t make it this year, you have to go next!

What a wonderful comment! The house tour was a wonderful day! After 10 years of house tours, the interest in history and architecture has not waned. We had more people on the 11th Annual Historic House Tour than ever before. I thank all the wonderful homeowners, the enthusiastic and knowledgeable docents and volunteers, the many sponsors and all those that purchased tickets — truly a great day for historic preservation!